My first Carnival!!!

I am super excited today because I found out that my entry to the Carnival of Personal Finance was accepted!!! This was my first entry to the blog carnival world, as I have only been blogging for a few weeks now. The post included was on the *free* DVD rental that ended up costing me $26 and caused me to re-commit to our family's personal finance goals and requirements.

Hello to everyone who might be visiting for the first time because of this link, and thanks so much to glblguy for including my post. Please visit the 148th Carnival of Personal Finance, and I also encourage you to check out some of the other great posts at the Gather Little by Little web site. I subscribe, and am always impressed with the quality of the content...honestly, I can say that about just about ALL the blogs I subscribe to (check out the tremendous list in my sidebar).

Some of the other posts in this week's Carnival of Personal Finance that I really enjoyed were:

• Sometimes It Is About the Amount of Money You Make -- PaidTwice's post on not overlooking the role of income in the personal finance/climbing out of debt process hit home to me. I am in a job transition and our family income has essentially been cut almost in half. I am in an active job search and exploring avenues for bringing in extra money in different ways, in addition to scaling back our spending. Scroll the comments as well for some additional points from others.
• Clean Up With Craigslist -- Blunt Money's post on how to declutter and make some money using craigslist was also very timely. We will be moving in May and I know there are things that do NOT need to even cross the threshold into the new house! I have done the eBay thing some, but agree the fees (along with Paypal fees) stink and eat into profits. So I will be trying a combo of Craigslist, eBay, yard sale(s) and Freecycle to get rid of the clutter and earn some extra cash.
• $4,000 Now, Nothing Later: the Beauty of the Roth IRA -- I appreciate this post from Uncommon Cents. We had some retirement funds in an assortment of 403(b) and traditional IRA accounts right now, but my personal retirement savings has really not been added to since 2003 when I left an employer that included retirement benefits. I have been working in small scale non-profits since then, where there have been literally NO benefits (other than some flexibility in scheduling and mission/visions that I am passionate about, of course). Roth IRAs are something we need to start considering soon. First things first...um...I need a job to help make those contributions! LOL
• The Grocery Game -- My Daily Dollars has a good review of the Grocery Game and I am considering signing up for the free trial. I would love to hear about your success in saving money grocery shopping by using Teri's list. There is one grocery store on the list (Shaws), but not the other big one (Price Chopper). They also include for my zip the Walgreens and CVS flyers, but I am inclined not to sign up and pay extra for these as there are lots of other *free* sites that list some of the best deals each week. Thoughts?

Thanks again to glblguy for including me in the 148th Carnival of Personal Finance! Have a great week.